The present invention relates to computer-implemented methods and systems for providing reciprocal information to two or more users of a set of interconnected computers regarding each other""s selected activities. More particularly, the present invention provides visual cues to inform a user of another user""s intention to initiate a contact or to end such a contact.
In the physical world, people employ a wide array of verbal and non-verbal cues to inform each other of their intentions to initiate a contact, e.g., start a conversation, or to terminate a contact, e.g., end a conversation. Further, in the physical world a person can assess another person""s visual cues (e.g., facial expressions) or conditions (e.g., whether the person is engaged in a telephone conversation) to decide whether it is a proper time to initiate a contact with the other person. The availability of such reciprocal cues in the physical world allows a person to smoothly negotiate various interactions with other people.
People who work in close proximity of each other (such as the same building or site) employ reciprocal awareness of each other""s activities to gauge whether to initiate a contact with a co-worker. For instance, a person working in an office may detect a co-worker approaching the office from a hallway and may be able to predict that the co-worker intends to initiate a conversation. Further, the person may be able to predict, based on prior familiarity with the co-worker and/or visual cues, the kind of conversation the co-worker intends to initiate. During the co-worker""s approach, the person can react in various ways to indicate to the co-worker whether she is available for interaction. For example the person can turn her head toward the doorway to acknowledge the co-worker""s approach, thereby inviting a conversation. Alternatively, the person can intensify her focus on her current task, to dissuade the co-worker from interrupting her.
Likewise, the co-worker can choose a course of conduct based on visual cues that he receives from the person that he intends to contact. For example, if the person is engaged in a telephone conversation, or if the person has a visitor in her office, the co-worker may decide that it is not an opportune time to make the contact. Further, such reciprocal awareness between the parties allows them to negotiate access and control privacy. For instance, a person can provide a signal (such as closing the office door) to a co-worker who is standing outside her office and monitoring her activity to indicate that she is aware of the co-worker""s presence, and wishes the co-worker to leave. Additionally, a person who is aware of being monitored by a co-worker can control the information that the co-worker receives.
A similar process occurs when two parties intend to terminate an interaction. In particular, parties tend to give each other mutually shared non-verbal indications of an intent to end a conversation. For example, as a conversation begins to wind down, one of the parties may glance at her watch, take steps toward a doorway, or provide other cues of her intention to terminate the conversation. Further, after the termination of the conversation, one or both of the parties can restart the conversation, for example to convey a last-minute thought without much effort.
Among distributed participants (i.e., remotely situated) in a conversation, however, there is no reciprocal awareness of any participant""s non-verbal cues of an intent to start and/or end an interaction. Thus, such distributed participants need to develop explicit, formal mechanisms for initiating and/or ending a contact. For example, before engaging in a telephone conversation, the phone must first ring to provide an explicit indication of one party""s intent to initiate a contact, and the receiving party must explicitly answer the phone. In addition, there is generally some explicit exchange of identities (e.g. xe2x80x9cHi, this is Bobxe2x80x9d). Similarly, the parties typically exchange an explicit xe2x80x9cgoodbyexe2x80x9d before hanging up the phone, thereby terminating the telephone conversation.
Similarly, the interactions among distributed users of an interconnected set of computers can lack visual cues regarding each participant""s intention to begin and/or to end an interaction. For example, in current instant messenger (IM) systems, an initiating user can initiate an IM contact with a receiver by popping up a window on the receiver""s computer. The receiver, however, has no awareness that a contact from the initiating user is imminent, and reciprocally, the initiating user has no knowledge of whether the receiver is attending to the IM. For example, the initiator does not know whether a lack of response from the receiver is because the receiver is in the process of composing an answer or because the receiver is ignoring the IM.
Similarly, ending a contact in current IM systems tends to be awkward and can result in a premature disconnection of the communication link between the parties. For example, in some IM systems, one user can close an IM window to end a conversation without the other user knowing that the IM window has been closed. Thus, IM conversations in such systems require an explicit exchange of farewells before termination
A number of systems that attempt to address the shortcomings of IM systems are known. For example, one system provides each computer of a set of users with a digital camera. A user of the system obtains periodic snap-shots of the offices of selected participants from the digital cameras. Thus, the user has a matrix of snap-shots composed of the images from the offices of the selected participants. This matrix of snap-shots allows the user to decide whether to initiate a contact with another participant. Such a system, however, has privacy issues, and further such a system requires that each participant have a digital camera and ancillary equipment.
Another system, known as xe2x80x9cGalleryxe2x80x9d, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,365. Gallery provides each user with iconic pictures of other users. Each iconic picture can represent three different states: a first indicating that the user is actively working on the computer, a second indicating that the computer keyboard has been idle more than a few minutes, and a third indicating that the person is engaged in a computer-mediated communication, such as a desk-top video conference. Gallery provides only three distinguishable states of each user to the other users. Further, Gallery requires that three distinct iconic images of each user be created and stored.
A research project known as xe2x80x9cPeepholesxe2x80x9d, which is described in a paper entitled xe2x80x9cLow Cost Awareness of One""s Communityxe2x80x9d, published in ACM SIGCHI ""96 Proceedings of Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (1996), offers a similar functionality to that offered by Gallery. xe2x80x9cPeepholesxe2x80x9d provides line drawings of each user rather than an iconic image. Further, Peepholes provides more than three states for indicating the activity of a user. One disadvantage of Peepholes is that the representations of the users occupy a large portion of a user""s computer screen which is traditionally viewed as valuable real estate that users are reluctant to give up. In addition, Peepholes uses a name label to associate a line drawing with that user, further aggravating the crowding of the user""s computer screen.
Some researchers have suggested employing physical objects to which sensors are attached to be interfaced with computers of distributed users to provide mutual awareness among the users. For example, one research approach employs a first doll to represent a user and a second doll to represent a co-worker of the user. The user may turn the first doll representing herself toward the second doll representing the co-worker to indicate her intention to contact the co-worker. The user""s computer detects the juxtaposition of the dolls and sends a signal to the co-worker""s computer to inform the co-worker of the user""s intention to make contact. Such a system requires explicit action by a user to convey an intention to communicate with another user. Further, such a system requires specialized peripherals, such as sensors and computer-controlled objects, to be interfaced with each user""s computer.
A communication link, as used herein, refers to a connection between at least two parties that allows each party to transmit information to the other party. A communication link is used to establish a communication session, which is more formally defined below. Once a communication link has been established and a request for interaction among at least two parties has been accepted, a communication session is established. A communication link can be provided by a physical connection, for example by employing wire, optical fiber, etc. Alternatively, a communication link can be provided by wireless techniques. Further, a communication link employed with the present invention is not limited to the use of any particular protocol. For example, various network protocols (e.g., token ring) for linking two or more computers can be employed.
A communication session, as used herein, is established between at least two parties when a party requests establishing a communication session with another party by initiating a communication link and the other party accepts the request and actively attends to the information received from the initiating party through the established communication link. With a communication session, there is mutual engagement of the parties and there is interactivity among the parties.
The present invention provides a method for providing information to an initiator regarding availability of an intended recipient for engaging in a communication session. The method is especially well-adapted for use with instant messaging. In particular, in one embodiment of the present invention, the initiator is provided with a visual representation of the intended recipient. The visual representation conveys information regarding the availability of the intended recipient. The visual representation can be a handle, such as a textual handle, a graphical handle, or a combination thereof. For example, the visual representation can inform the initiator that the recipient is engaged in a telephone conversation and hence provide a cue that the recipient is not available for engaging in an instant messaging session.
Upon the initiator""s request, additional information regarding the availability of the intended recipient may be provided to the initiator. For example, a user interface element may be provided to the initiator when the initiator selects the visual representation of the intended recipient. The user interface element provides additional information regarding the availability of the intended recipient to engage in an instant messaging communication session. The additional information can include, but is not limited to, the number of unread electronic messages that the initiator has received from the intended recipient, the number of voice mail messages from the intended recipient to which the initiator has not listened, and the appointment schedule of the intended recipient. The user interface element can optionally include a communication interface to allow the initiator to establish a communication link with the intended recipient. Such a communication interface, for example, can provide an instant messaging link, a telephone link, or an e-mail link between the initiator and the intended recipient.
The present invention not only allows an initiator to access information regarding the availability of an intended recipient to participate in a communication session, as discussed above, but it also informs the intended recipient that the initiator is accessing such information. Accordingly, another aspect of the invention relates to a method for informing an intended recipient that an initiator is accessing selected information regarding the intended recipient. The method includes the step of providing the intended recipient with a visual representation of the initiator and includes the additional step of presenting a user interface element associated with the representation of the initiator to the intended recipient when the initiator initiates accessing selected information regarding the intended recipient.
Upon reviewing the information regarding availability of an intended recipient, an initiator may initiate the establishment of a communication link with the intended recipient. By initiating a communication link, the initiator illustrates its desire to participate in a communication session with the intended recipient. One aspect of the invention relates to informing the intended recipient that the initiator has initiated establishing the communication link. In particular, this aspect of the invention provides a method for providing information to the intended recipient regarding the initiator""s intention to establish a communication session. The method includes the step of providing the intended recipient with a visual representation of the initiator, and further includes the step of presenting a user interface element to the intended recipient associated with the representation of the initiator when the initiator initiates establishing a communication link with the intended recipient. The user interface element informs the intended recipient of the initiator""s intention to establish a communication session.
Upon being informed of the initiator""s request for establishing a communication session, the intended recipient can accept the request, ignore the request or request additional information regarding the initiator""s intended message. If the intended recipient requests such additional information, the method of the invention provides the intended recipient with a user interface element, such as a contact preview window on a computer desktop, that provides information regarding the message that the initiator intends to transmit. For example, in a computer environment, the contact preview window can include at least a portion of an intended message, to allow the intended recipient to decide whether to accept or to ignore the initiator""s request.
A communication session is established only after the intended recipient accepts a request by the initiator. In one embodiment of the present invention, each party is informed whether an active communication session is established between the parties and are interactively engaged in communicating with each other. In particular, a signal indicating whether a communication session with the intended recipient is established is sent to the initiator. The signal can be visual, audio, or a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of signals can also be employed. For example, the vibrations of an object can provide the requisite signal.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the background color of a window, such as a message window on a computer desktop, can be selected to provide a signal indicating whether an active communication session between two parties is established. For example, a white background can indicate that a communication session exists, and a gray background can signal that the number of participants in the communication session is less than two.
Another aspect of the invention relates to preventing a premature termination of an active communication session. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, a method informs a participant in a communication session that another participant intends to terminate its participation in the session. In particular, a user interface element is provided for signaling that a participant intends to terminate its participation in the session. Further, one embodiment of the invention provides a count-down period upon a party""s initiation to terminate its participation in a session during which the impending termination can be aborted. For example, upon being informed of a party""s intention to terminate a session, other participants may transmit some information to the terminating party which may prompt the terminating party to abort the impending termination. This advantageously prevents a pre-mature termination of a party""s participation in a session.
One preferred embodiment of the invention in which the electronic device is a computer, provides an indicator (such as a visual, an audio, or a combined visual and audio signal) for indicating a party""s intention to terminate its participation in a communication session. The signal, for example, can be selected to be a textual message. Further, an indicator, such as a graphical indicator, can be provided for indicating the passage of a count-down period before the party terminates its participation. The graphical indicator can be selected to be a plurality of dots appearing sequentially as the count-down period passes, where each dot has a diameter that is smaller than that of a previous dot to indicate approximately the time remaining in the count-down period
The various aspects of the method of the invention, as delineated above, can be implemented in a computer system having means for establishing a communication session among distributed parties. The computer system can include computers under the control of respective parties. Those skilled in the art will understand that the method of the invention can be also be implemented in other electronic devices, such as cellular phones, information appliances, pagers, personal digital assistants and the like.
A computer program for implementation of the method of the invention can be written in any suitable programming language by employing standard programming practices. The computer program may be a source code, an object code, or an executable code. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk and/or any other suitable computer-readable medium.